Title: Coming Home
Author: cherryxbomb
Rating: T
Disclaimer: I do not own Roswell. If I did, Jesse would never have existed. Therefore, no suing me. All I have are ramen noodles anyway.
Pairings: Max/Liz; Michael/Maria; Isabel/Kyle; a little Isabel/Alex (Yes he's dead. You'll have to read to find out.)
Summary: Six years ago, the Pod Squad left Roswell. Now, they think it's safe for them to come home. What will Roswell be like six years later?
Chapter Title: Chapter One
Chapter Teaser: "Their first stop was the Crashdown. As the van pulled up in front of the building, they each got different memories."
The old and decrepit Volkswagen van had many colors over the last six years. No one even remembered what color it started out as, just that the colors changed so much. Every two or three months, it was like they were in a new vehicle. But there was always one consistency, the bumper sticker that thanked them for visiting Roswell.
As they rolled into town, that bumper sticker was the first thing on their mind.
"Don't you think it's a little redundant?" Isabel had asked them when they were fifteen minutes outside of town.
"What's a little redundant?" Max was curious. He looked briefly over his shoulder to face his sister.
"The bumper sticker. Now that we're going back home, it just seems..." She searched for the right word.
"Passe?" Liz suggested from her location in the passenger seat.
"But it's a part of this van," Kyle argued from his seat next to Isabel. "It's come a long way with us."
"It connected us with Roswell," Maria piped in. "We're going back there. Why do we need a connection?"
"Now it connects us with the road?" Michael suggested, the question evident in their voice.
By the time they reached the sign, welcoming them back home, they had all reached a concensus. While it was redundant, they couldn't take it off. It was the only way they had always recognized the van. They didn't want to lose that now, now that the van was painted white. Even if the van never changed again, they wanted to have the bumper sticker. It was a part of their group, as much as each and every one of them.
Their first stop was the Crashdown. As the van pulled up in front of the building, they each got different memories.
Liz remembered getting shot. She remembered Max leaning over her, healing her and changing her. It was the start of everything. It was the start of the mad hunt for aliens, the hunt that had lead Pierce and many other agents to them. It started the ultimate decision, leaving Roswell, and possibly for good. But it had started other things. It lead to her marriage to Max, the baby that was now growing inside of her, and the friendship between the six young adults in the van.
To Liz, the Crashdown symbolized more than her home. It symbolized beginnings and true love, true friendship. The Crashdown symbolized her soul.
Liz let out a quiet and dreamy sigh.
Maria remembered the heat wave. She remembered how passionately she had kissed Michael behind the counter. She had been closing that night, and Liz was just upstairs. That was the night she had fallen in love with Michael Guerin, though she didn't even realize that she was in love with him until some time later. She wished she could see the ghost of the girl she was then, even if the hair was horrible.
To Maria, the restaurant symbolized the start of her relationship with Michael, even if their start had actually been in her mother's car. Of course, the Crashdown was where he kissed her for the first time.
Maria smiled at her memory.
Isabel remembered convincing Alex that they were aliens. She had turned ketchup into mustard. She hated herself in that memory. She was so annoyed. She found him annoying, however charming his dreamself had been. The memory brought tears to her eyes. Every part of Roswell they had passed so far reminded her in some way of Alex.
To Isabel, the Crashdown symbolized youth. Alex was a part of that youth, but so was Kyle. He just held a completely different part in that portion of her life. She felt disloyal even thinking the thoughts about Alex, as she always did. Of course, though, Kyle knew what she was thinking. He always did.
Isabel squeezed Kyle's hand in reassurance.
Kyle's memories of the Crashdown was about the food. He remembered Liz and Maria dressed in their cute waitress uniforms, serving alien-themed foods to ungrateful customers. He remembered Michael cooking the food, and sometimes blowing things up in the process, when his emotions got out of hand and messed with his powers. He also remembered all the conversations he'd had with Isabel in his senior year, sitting at the bar of the restaurant. Even then, he'd been in love with her.
To Kyle, the Crashdown symbolized great food. Of course, it had other memories, but great food and great friends was all he really remembered. He didn't want to think of the bad things. It seemed like bad luck to think of the bad things that had happened in Roswell, when they were finally safe.
Kyle's stomach rumbled at the thought of all that great food.
Michael remembered the start of junior year. He remembered Maria dancing so beautifully with Tess, Isabel, and Liz. Her head sometimes turned to cast him furtive glances. He knew it was a lost cause, even then. He knew that he was always meant for Maria, even as much as he tried to deny it. But that memory even had bad parts to it, Courtney for instance. He remembered her coming in, asking if it was a party. He remembered the attraction he had to Courtney back then.
To Michael, the Crashdown symbolized all the good and bad times that he'd had with Maria. It made him think of the hurt he'd caused her. He hated that he had ever caused her that much pain, even in the best of moments. Every memory of Roswell was tainted with pain. He wished that he and Maria had never come back, though he knew she would always come back here. He couldn't ask her to do otherwise.
Michael leaned down and kissed Maria's blonde hair, trying to force his thoughts away.
Max didn't remember anything from inside the actual restaurant. He remembered the night before graduation. He remembered the night that he proposed to Liz, the night that they promised to be together forever. Whether forever was fourteen days or fourteen years, or forty. He remembered picking up a piece of charcoal and turning it into a diamond. He remembered the words, and the tears in her eyes when she agreed. It was the best decision he ever made.
To Max, the Crashdown symbolized a future. His future with Liz. And now they were going back to tell her parents the news, that they were having a child. Even then, he'd been so certain of that future. He hadn't had a doubt since that night.
Max looked at Liz from the corner of his eye, and thought that even now, pregnant, she was the most beautiful person in the universe.
"You people think too much," Kyle spoke up suddenly. "Can we just go in already, if everyone is done remembering?"
The inside of the Crashdown hadn't changed at all. There was still the mural of aliens. It was still crowded with tourists, and there were still postcards by the door. The only thing that had changed, it seemed as the six friends walked inside, was them. The Crashdown seemed to have stayed frozen in time. It was like a time warp, and they all wondered suddenly if they had changed as much. They wondered if they looked the same, if they had really been gone for six years.
They were aliens after all. Maybe life outside of Roswell, life in hotels, a van, and Laurie DuPree's house was measured differently than inside of Roswell.
It wasn't until they saw Jeff Parker that they knew for certain. Things had changed. His face had changed. He looked older, much older. He looked as though he'd lived several lifetimes in the last six years.
They saw him before he saw them. Liz couldn't contain herself. Joy burst through her veins. She didn't realize, until just then that is, how much she had missed her father.
"Dad!"
Her loud voice caused several customers to turn their head and face the group. Jeff turned around and met the pregnant brunette. Time stood still. Years disappeared off of his face. He dropped the plate he was holding, and it shattered. He didn't care though. He met his daughter in the middle of the restaurant and embraced her, paying no attention to anyone else in the room.
"Welcome home sweetie." His words were music to Liz's ears.
Time passed by slowly as they waited for the Crashdown to close. They spent countless hours on the little porch outside of Liz's bedroom. It looked the same, like they had never left. The Parker's had trimmed the plants religiously, taking care of anything her daughter had loved.
"Is he scared?" Liz spoke slowly, afraid to know the answer. She looked over at Kyle.
"He's so happy that you're home. But he's not going to be the only one coming up here in a few minutes," Kyle reassured Liz.
Five pairs of eyes turned to meet Kyle's brown ones.
"Who else is coming?" Max asked wearily. His eyes darted towards the ladder and the van parked below it. He was ready to run.
"Amy, my dad, your parents. He was thinking about calling them all when we were going upstairs."
"And you didn't think to tell us?" Maria shot up from where her head was resting in Michael's lap. "You didn't think that was even slightly important?"
"They all know by now. What good would it have done?" Kyle questioned.
"I'm not ready to see my mom," Maria argued. "I... I mean, what if she hates me for leaving?" She sounded close to crying.
"She won't hate you Maria," Michael reassured her, coaxing her head back down.
She refused to place her head back in its comfortable position. She preferred the discomfort of sitting up (yet again) to lying down and letting the pain just wash over her. She missed her mother ever waking minute, and every sleeping minute, that they had been gone. She felt the gnawing sensation in the pit of her stomach. Fear. She hadn't been this afraid since their last encounter with an FBI agent, when Michael had almost been caught.
She played with the white gold ring around her fourth finger.
"What if she does?"
"I'll tug my ear if she's thinking anything bad," Kyle promised, a playful smile on his face. "And I'll scratch my nose if it's good."
"You just want to pick your nose. Admit it," Isabel teased, lifting her head from his shoulder to look at him.
"Damn. You caught me."
They sat in silence, contemplating what each would say to their parents when they ascended the stairs. The only one that looked relaxed was Michael. It was times like these that he was grateful that he didn't have parents.
"Here they come," Kyle warned, his head cocked to the side. Everyone stood up and filed towards the window. He reached out and grabbed Maria's arm. "Can we talk for a moment?"
Michael's head turned to look at the blonde and the brunette. Maria simply nodded and waited for everyone to climb inside.
"That bad?"
"No, just Dad is thinking of something. So is Amy."
"What?" Maria's voice was fearful.
Author's Note: I originally planned to have this chapter just deal with Liz/Jeff, but I decided to get it all out of the way at once. And in the next chapter, just to leave you all hanging. Thanks for all the great comments on the prologue and remember that Chapter Two will be up in just a few days. In fact, I've already started it. Keep the comments coming and I'll keep the chapters coming. It's a fair exchange I think!
Remember, I eat comments for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I don't want to be another starving writer!